Applied Rationality focuses on public policy issues and tries to take a liberal perspective that is consistent (comments to the posts will often show otherwise) with neoclassical, rational-choice economics.

Monday, March 12, 2012

News-Record censoring Doonesbury

The local paper, the News-Record, has decided to censor the comic strip Doonesbury for the week.

This week's series deals with abortion. The News-Record has a blurb saying that the strip addressed the issue, "in a way that we deemed both too editorial in nature for news columns and too graphic for a family paper."

This morning's edition of the paper also contained:
- a news article with the headline, "Egyptian court acquits doctor in 'virginity tests',"
- another article with the headline, "DNA helps solve cold rape cases," and
- an Annie's Mailbox column on whether the parents should disclose their daughter-in-law's ex-husband's history of sexually abusing children to his new family.
All of these "wholesome" and "not-too-graphic-for-a-family-paper" stories include the gory details to provide necessary "context."

In addition to these, the paper is chock-a-block, as usual, with murder, violence and mayhem in Greensboro and elsewhere.

In all of this though, the Republican assault on women's reproductive choices and health gets a pass.

Update (3/12/12): Should have mentioned that the same comics page this morning had a Brewster Rockit strip alluding to saggy breasts and a Pearls Before Swine strip using the word "crappy." But hey, it's "a family paper."

Update (3/12/12, later): Ed Cone and the News-Record report that the NR will post this week's Doonesbury strip on-line. This is very good news, because the chances of finding Doonesbury on-line weren't especially good, unless you asked one of your kids.